Violet Storm
by imnotokaywiththerunning
Summary: A strange wind has blown over Downton Abbey turning everything upside down for the unsuspecting servants. Completely ridiculous. Multiship. Will involve everyone at the Abbey eventually.
1. Prologue

**A/N I don't own these characters.**

Prologue

The storm that had been raging all night long culminated in an almighty boom that woke Mrs. Hughes from a lovely dream. Sighing, she rolled onto her side and tried to go back to sleep in spite of the lightning flashing periodically through her bedroom window.

It was then that she noticed that the light in her bedroom was wrong. It was coming from the right of her bed instead of the left. Opening her eyes she saw that her wardrobe was on the wrong side of the room as well. Rolling over she saw a writing table where her dressing table should be and sat up quickly in shock. Where in the world was she?

She threw the blankets off of her legs and noticed for the first time that she wasn't in her nightgown. Looking closely she recognized that she was in pajamas—men's pajamas—which should have engulfed her but did not. She rubbed her eyes hoping this was all a dream but froze when she felt her face. Her nose was huge! Blinking she looked more closely at the hands that were not hers but that she would recognize anywhere.

Breathing heavily she leapt from the bed toward the wardrobe hoping to find a mirror of some sort. Finally finding one she sat on the bed and steeled herself for what she would see. She turned it over slowly and peered at her reflection.

"Oh my God!" boomed Mr. Carson's voice with Mrs. Hughes' Scottish brogue.


	2. Chapter 1

After some of her shock wore off and she was convinced that she was not dreaming, Mrs. Hughes found Mr. Carson's bathrobe and made her way out into the hall towards the door separating the men's quarters from the women's. She knocked on the door hoping that if she was in Mr. Carson's body he might be in hers. _Oh Lord! He's going to see me in my nightgown!_ she lamented. This was going to be unbearably awkward, but she needed to find out what had happened.

Thankfully it wasn't long before she heard movement coming from her room. The lock was turned and the door opened revealing a bewildered version of herself. _My, but this is weird to look down at myself_.

"Mr. Carson!" not Mrs. Hughes said with a Yorkshire accent before being cut off by the actual Mrs. Hughes.

"I'm not Mr. Carson and you're not Mrs. Hughes," she tried to whisper with Carson's voice. God, she'd never realized how loud he was until now. "So tell me who you are."

"Blimey, so I'm really not dreaming," not Mrs. Hughes said. "I'm Mr. Barrow. You sound like Mrs. Hughes. It's weird hearing Carson with a Scottish accent."

"Yes," Hughes/Carson agreed. "I was hoping that there would only be two of us affected by whatever this nonsense is but it seems not. There are at least three of us then. We've got to find out who else there is. Wait here while I check your room. Hopefully Mr. Carson's in there."

"Right," Barrow nodded and watched Mrs. Hughes in Mr. Carson's body lumber off to his room.

Mrs. Hughes found Thomas' door and opened it without knocking. She shut the door quietly so as not to wake whoever was currently in Mr. Barrow's bed. Creeping over to the sleeping figure she put her hand over not-Mr. Barrow's face and woke him. He jumped when he saw Mr. Carson hovering over him and pulled his sheets up over his chest.

"Mr. Carson you shouldn't be in here!" he squeaked. "This is the women's quarters!"

"Hush now, we're not in the women's quarters," Hughes said gently causing Barrow's eyes to widen in confusion. "I'm afraid there's been some sort of mix up in who's who. So tell me who you are."

Eyes impossibly wide Barrow whispered, "But I'm Ms. Baxter, Mr. Carson. Don't you recognize me?"

Mrs. Hughes closed her eyes and sighed in frustration. Now there were at least four of them in this mess. How they would ever get back to normal she would never know. Glancing around, she found Mr. Barrow's small shaving mirror and brought it over to the still bewildered Ms. Baxter.

"Now I know this is going to come as quite a shock but I need you to stay calm," she said with what she hoped was a reassuring face before handing the mirror to Ms. Baxter.

Ms. Baxter wouldn't look at the mirror in her hands but continued to stare at Mrs. Hughes. "Why do you look like Mr. Carson but sound like Mrs. Hughes?"

Sighing Mrs. Hughes raised Ms. Baxter's hands up so that she was looking directly into the mirror. Shaking Ms. Baxter whispered, "that's not me."

"I know dear, and I'm not Mr. Carson. I'm Mrs. Hughes. The real Mr. Barrow is in my body which means we have to find out who's in yours."

Ms. Baxter continued to look at Mr. Barrow's face in the mirror as Mrs. Hughes searched for a robe for her. Baxter collected herself and finally looked up at Mrs. Hughes holding out a bathrobe to her.

"This is too weird."

"Believe me, I know."


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N I don't own any of these characters, obviously. I've already written most of this story. I only have the few last chapters to write. My plan is to post one or two chapters a day until it's finished. And thanks so much for all the kind reviews!**

Barrow waited at the dividing door for Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson to come out of his room. He glanced around hoping that no one would wake before they found out just what exactly was happening. He wished that they would hurry it up. He was just about to walk into the men's quarters when Mrs. Hughes walked out of his room with who he hoped was Mr. Carson.

"Blimey, do I really look like that?" he asked when they were close enough to hear him.

Mrs. Hughes gave him a reproachful look that was somehow worse than the actual Mr. Carson's.

"Mr. Carson, I hope?" he asked himself.

"No, Mr. Barrow," Mrs. Hughes boomed, shocking herself with the sound. Then more quietly, "Unfortunately, this is Ms. Baxter and not Mr. Carson. Go to her room and wake whoever is in there. Try and be gentle with them, Mr. Barrow."

Mr. Barrow groaned in frustration and turned towards the women's side of the door before stopping and looking back at Mrs. Hughes and Ms. Baxter.

"Which one is her room?"

"The one across from Mrs. Hughes's," Ms. Baxter answered.

He nodded and walked quietly toward Ms. Baxter's bedroom. This was all too weird. He was on the women's ward in a woman's body. It really was too bad he wasn't interested in women. This would have been the perfect opportunity otherwise. He huffed in amusement before slowly pushing open Ms. Baxter's door and stepping through.

Whoever was actually in the bed was sprawled out all over the place, half hanging off the bed. Barrow was sure that Mr. Carson would never sleep so haphazardly even in a different body which meant that there was yet another person involved in this farce. Mr. Barrow moved closer to the bed and shook Ms. Baxter's arm. She startled squinting up at him.

"Mrs. Hughes," she whispered. "What the bleeding 'eck are you doing in here? It's not time to be up is it? Did I oversleep?"

She made to jump out of the bed but Barrow pressed his hand into her shoulder to hold her down. This could only be one person causing Barrow to pinch his nose to stave off the headache he could feel coming on.

"Mrs. Patmore?" he asked wearily.

"Well, who else would it be?" she answered cheekily. "You 'aven't been at the bottle have you? That's not like you at all."

Barrow looked around the room hoping to find something to help him make Mrs. Patmore understand what had happened. _Be gentle,_ Mrs. Hughes's voice sounded in his head. How does one gently tell someone that they aren't in their own body?

His gaze landed on the dressing table near the window opposite the door. He pulled Mrs. Patmore up from the bed and turned her towards it. She sputtered indignantly until she caught their reflections in the mirror. She waved her hand and gasped. Rushing over to the dressing table she peered more closely at herself turning her head this way and that. She finally turned back to stare at Mr. Barrow in shock.

"What in the _hell_ is going on?"

"It's a long story," Barrow sighed before telling her all that he knew.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N I don't own any of these.**

Ms. Baxter was still in shock as she waited out in the hallway with Mrs. Hughes. It was odd seeing Mr. Carson's body with Mrs. Hughes's quirks. His body would fidget nervously as she had never seen the proud man do before. Looking down at Mr. Barrow's hands she noticed that she was shaking. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself.

"They've been in there a long time," she whispered quietly to Hughes/Carson.

"I know," Mrs. Hughes tried to whisper back and biting her lip. "We haven't heard any shouting so that's maybe a good sign."

Just as Ms. Baxter was about to nod in agreement her bedroom door opened to reveal two figures hurrying in their direction. When they were close enough she recognized Mr. Barrow as Mrs. Hughes, but it took her a moment to realize that the figure next to him was herself. Mr. Barrow had been right. It was decidedly odd to see oneself from the outside.

"Mrs. Patmore," Barrow said when they had reached the dividing door. Mrs. Hughes gave a loud groan before putting her hands over her mouth with an expression of utter shock. Mrs. Patmore raised her eyebrows at her.

"This is weird, innit?" she said. "How in the heck did it even happen?"

"We don't know," Mrs. Hughes answered her. "It's all a bit surreal. But first we need to know who all has been affected. Then we'll try to come up with a plan to fix it. If it can be."

All four of them looked at each other in despair. What would happen if they were forced to stay like this?

"Well," Mrs. Patmore said clapping her hands together softly, "let's go see who the lucky person in my room is."

And before anyone could say a thing she took off to the far end of the corridor to her room. Hughes, Barrow, and Baxter could only look on in shock as they all muttered the same horrified, "Oh dear."


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N I don't own them.**

Someone was shaking his arm and calling his name. It was a woman's voice. What was a woman doing on the wrong side of the door? A woman on the men's quarters could only mean an emergency. Suddenly wide awake, he sat up quickly and promptly knocked his head with whoever it was that had woken him.

Groaning and rubbing his head he looked over the edge of his bed where his intruder had fallen. To his surprise it was Ms. Baxter lying on the floor. Normally if something had happened it was Mrs. Hughes that came to wake him. Why hadn't she come for him instead of Ms. Baxter? Oh Lord, what if there was something wrong with Mrs. Hughes?

Panicked, he hopped out of bed and quickly helped Ms. Baxter to her feet. "I'm terribly sorry, Ms. Baxter. What's happened? Is everything alright?"

"It bloody well isn't "all right" you mangy sod!" she screeched.

Mr. Carson was taken aback by her language. They must have banged heads harder than he thought to cause her to go into such hysterics. Still, that was no excuse for insubordination. He drew himself up to his full height to try to intimidate what was wrong out of her. When he had, he realized he was still looking up at her which was odd. Since Alfred had left he was the tallest member of staff and he towered over all of the female staff. Something was off. He looked down at himself and realized he was much closer to the ground than he had been since he was a boy. Then he saw that he was wearing a nightgown instead of his blue stripped pajamas. Blinking, he looked back up at Ms. Baxter who was smirking devilishly at him.

"Finally notice something wrong then, Charlie Boy?" she practically cackled. Since when did Ms. Baxter cackle?

She roughly shoved a small mirror into his hands. He took one look at it and then the floor was getting closer by the second.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N I'm sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. I meant to do it this morning but couldn't seem to find a spare moment to do it. Thank you all so much for your kind reviews and the follows. It means so much. And as always, I don't own these characters.**

After hearing a second thud from Mrs. Patmore's bedroom, Hughes, Barrow, and Baxter ran to see what had happened. Mrs. Hughes opened the door to see Mrs. Patmore guffawing over her unconscious body.

"He fainted!" she wheezed with glee. "He bloody well fainted!"

"It is Mr. Carson then?" Mrs. Hughes sighed. At Mrs. Patmore's nod, she knelt on the floor and tried to wake him again. "Mr. Carson, wake up. We need you to wake up now."

She watched as he slowly opened his eyes and then shut them again tightly. "Oh my God, this can't be."

"Mr. Carson—"

"Oh my God! Please tell me this is a dream. It can't be anything else."

"I'm afraid not, Mr. Carson," she answered watching him throw his hands over his face.

Mr. Barrow knelt down next to them and smirked at Mr. Carson's discomfort. "Come on, Mr. Carson. It's not all bad. You could be the Dowager Countess!"

Carson looked in horror between Mrs. Hughes as himself and Barrow as Mrs. Hughes before his head hit the floor again.

"Oh for goodness sake!" Mrs. Hughes scolded as both Barrow and Mrs. Patmore burst into giggles. "You two are not helping at all. Now Ms. Baxter, if you will help me with Mr. Carson we'll take him down to the butler's pantry. Mrs. Patmore, I need you to get clothes for you, Mr. Carson, and Mr. Barrow and meet us there. Mr. Barrow, you do the same for Ms. Baxter and myself."

Once she and Ms. Baxter had Mr. Carson between them they left Mrs. Patmore and Mr. Barrow to their sniggering hoping that they would make it to the butler's pantry without waking up anyone else.

"Mrs. Hughes?" Ms. Baxter began cautiously, "How are we to make it down the stairs?"

Sighing Mrs. Hughes only hefted Mr. Carson a little higher and replied, "Heaven only knows, Ms. Baxter. Heaven only knows."


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N I don't own them. I don't think Mr. Carson would appreciate my antics.**

Not long after Mrs. Hughes and Ms. Baxter had settled Carson into an armchair in his pantry, Mrs. Patmore and Mr. Barrow could be heard snickering coming down the stairs. Mrs. Hughes gave them her sternest glare as they walked into the butler's pantry which caused them both to break out into guffaws.

"Honestly," she said exasperatedly which didn't help at all.

"It's so weird to hear your accent coming out of Mr. Carson's face!" Mrs. Patmore exclaimed before doubling over in mirth. Mrs. Hughes had to agree with the oddness of the situation as she watched her own face crinkle as Mr. Barrow laughed.

"Well, there's no doubt this is strange," she agreed, "but we need to come up with a plan to fix this. So calm down, the both of you, and sit!"

At her outburst they sobered and did as she said. Once they were all seated Mrs. Hughes began.

"Just so we're all clear on who's who: I am in Mr. Carson's body, Mr. Carson is in Mrs. Patmore's, Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter, who is in Mr. Barrow's body, and Mr. Barrow is in mine. Is that right?" They all nodded their agreement.

"But how did this happen, though?" Mrs. Patmore interrupted. "How can we all suddenly be different people?"

"Well, if I knew that, Mrs. Patmore, we'd have all been saved a world of awkwardness," Mrs. Hughes rolled her eyes. "As it is, I don't. But if you have a better idea—"

"Perhaps we should try to come up with a plan of what we're going to do if we can't fix whatever this is before morning," Ms. Baxter interrupted before Mrs. Hughes could get any louder.

A grunt from Mr. Carson drew their attention. He was waking up again. Opening his eyes he glanced around the room and groaned, "I was hoping it was a dream."

"Mr. Carson!" Mrs. Hughes boomed making him stare wide-eyed at her. "If you so much as _think_ of fainting again, so help me, I'll hit you so hard you'll never wake up again."

Sitting up straight Mr. Carson tried to look down Mrs. Patmore's significantly smaller nose in disdain, "I do _not_ faint."

"Is that what you call it?" Mrs. Patmore snorted.

"Enough!" Mrs. Hughes said as Mr. Carson glared. "We don't have much time to figure things out. If we're stuck like this we'll have to act like nothing is wrong. Goodness, if we told anyone else they'd send us all to an asylum!"

"But what exactly is going on?" Mr. Carson asked.

"You're Mrs. Patmore, Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter, Ms. Baxter is me, I'm Mrs. Hughes, and Mrs. Hughes is you," Mr. Barrow answered helpfully.

Blinking in feigned understanding Mr. Carson answered, "Yes, of course, that makes perfect sense."

"Never mind that," Mrs. Hughes continued. "What's important now is that we all know how to act so as not to get ourselves committed. I believe I can do a reasonable impersonation of Mr. Carson."

"All you've got to do is act like an old grump!" Mrs. Patmore snickered.

"As if you know how to be a lady's maid!" Mr. Carson rejoined.

"And you're an expert cook!" she threw at him. He paled considerably.

"Don't you think maybe we should get dressed before we try to do anything else," Ms. Baxter said quietly.

"Yes, of course, Ms. Baxter, you're right," Mrs. Hughes agreed. Turning to Mrs. Patmore and Mr. Barrow she asked, "You did manage to bring down our clothes I take it?"

They both nodded and began handing out them out. Once everyone had a set, an uncomfortable silence fell on the room. No one wanted to be the first to move.

"Well, this is awkward."

"Thank you, Mr. Barrow," Mr. Carson reprimanded him. "How are we to do this?"

"Don't worry, Mr. Carson," Mrs. Patmore chirped. "I'll help you with your corset!"

And with that Mr. Carson fainted once again.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N I don't own these characters.**

"How do you stand to wear this thing all day?" Mr. Barrow asked trying to push his corset into a more comfortable position.

"Please stop fondling my breasts, Mr. Barrow," Mrs. Hughes said swatting his hands away and holding up a dress for him to step into. She and Ms. Baxter were already dressed in their livery and were now helping Mrs. Patmore get Barrow and Carson into dresses. At least they were helping Mr. Barrow. Mr. Carson was still out like a light. Once Mr. Barrow was in his dress, they turned to Mr. Carson.

"Can the man not be reasonable for at least once in his life?" Mrs. Hughes asked exasperatedly.

"Apparently not," Mrs. Patmore chuckled. "Well, let's wake 'im up and put him in some clothes."

She walked over to where he was slumped over in his chair and began shaking him awake. Before he had even opened his eyes, she had pulled him to his feet and tried to pry the dressing gown out of his hands.

"For goodness sakes, it's not even you we'll be looking at! If anyone should be embarrassed it's me!"

"It's the principle of the thing, Mrs. Patmore," he squeaked holding the lapels of the dressing gown tighter. "If I take it off then _I'll_ see—see—" he gesticulated wildly down at himself.

"So you'd rather wear a nightgown all day?"Mrs. Patmore asked innocently as Mrs. Hughes moved silently behind Mr. Carson.

"Well, no" he spluttered still clutching his hands to his chest, "but—"

He yelped in surprise as Mrs. Hughes pulled the dressing gown from behind him leaving him in Mrs. Patmore's nightgown. He scrunched his eyes shut and lifted his head towards the ceiling, "Get on with it then."

Chuckling madly, Mrs. Hughes and Mrs. Patmore stripped him of the nightgown and put him in a shift. When he felt them pull a corset around him his face turned scarlet as he squeezed his eyes impossibly tighter. "Oh my God, this can't be happening."

"Quit your moaning," Mrs. Patmore griped at him then turned conspiratorially to Mrs. Hughes to whisper, "I haven't worn a corset in years, but I'm not passing the chance of putting himself in one."

"Mrs. Patmore, really!" Mrs. Hughes chuckled.

"What's wrong?" Mr. Carson asked worriedly.

"Nothing, Mr. Carson," she soothed. "We're almost finished. Lift your arms."

Mrs. Patmore lowered the dress over his head while Mrs. Hughes fastened it closed. They both admired their handiwork for a moment before putting the poor man out of his misery.

"You can open your eyes now."

He did so slowly and glanced down at his dress-clothed body. He looked back up at them with a baleful expression that was out of place on Mrs. Patmore's face. "Do I really have to do this?"

"You don't have a choice," Mrs. Hughes said briskly. "Now sit down so we can do your hair."

At the mention of hair, Mrs. Patmore gasped. "How the bleedin' 'eck do I do her Ladyship's hair?"

"It's all right, Mrs. Patmore," Ms. Baxter smiled. "I'll show you what to do with Mr. Barrow's hair. You'll be fine."

Relieved, Mrs. Patmore went with Ms. Baxter to fix Mr. Barrow's hair and left Mr. Carson to Mrs. Hughes. Mr. Carson sat obediently as Mrs. Hughes began to put his hair in a bun. Scowling he muttered so that only Mrs. Hughes could hear, "How the bleedin' 'eck am I supposed to cook all day?"

"With that impersonation you'll be just fine," she chuckled.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N Not mine. Thank you all for your reviews.**

"Now you all know what to do?" Mrs. Hughes asked them all nervously.

"Of course, we do! Ain't that right, Mr. Carson," Mrs. Patmore said nudging Carson in the ribs. He grunted noncommittally and continued to look forlornly at the floor.

"Well, then," Mrs. Hughes sighed. "You'd best all go about your duties. We'll meet back here after everyone's gone to bed. Hopefully we'll have thought of a solution by then."

"I'm sure we will," Ms. Baxter smiled.

They all began filing out of the Butler's pantry trying to look as normal as they could, but Mrs. Hughes held Carson back. She waited until the others had left before closing the door.

"This is a mess."

"It's worse than a mess," Mr. Carson moaned. "What are we to do? I mean, about us? About our-?"

"About our wedding?" Mrs. Hughes supplied. She sighed and wrung her hands, "I don't know."

They fell into silence trying not to look at one another. They had just announced their engagement last week and had begun to plan their wedding for the next month.

"Well, I'll not have you marrying Mr. Barrow," Mr. Carson harrumphed.

"I don't much fancy that either," Mrs. Hughes shot back. She got a mischievous glint in her eye as she said, "I suppose it would be a bit odd if you were seen to break your engagement with me to marry Mrs. Patmore."

Mr. Carson gaped at her as she laughed. "That's horrible! What if we suddenly got back into our own bodies? Then I'd be stuck with Mrs. Patmore!"

Still chuckling, Mrs. Hughes moved to open the door. "I see your point, I suppose. We'll surely be out of this mess by then."

"Surely," Mr. Carson huffed moving into the hallway. "Are you sure I have to stay in the kitchen all day? I'll just be in the way."

"Yes, you do," she clipped. "It'll be odd enough that Daisy will be doing all of the cooking by herself."

"I still don't like it," he grumbled as Mrs. Hughes steered him to the kitchen.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N This one's a little late today. Sorry about that. Thank you all so much for your reviews!  
I don't own any of these characters.**

Daisy had already begun servants' breakfast without Mrs. Patmore. She had knocked on her door earlier but when she hadn't received an answer she had shrugged and went on with her morning duties. Mrs. Patmore had a reputation for being a heavy sleeper. She had thought nothing of it until the new scullery maid came to tell her that Mrs. Hughes hadn't answered the knock on her door like she normally does. The poor girl had panicked when neither Mrs. Patmore nor Ms. Baxter had answered theirs either. Sighing Daisy agreed to go check on them with the poor girl.

As they were leaving the kitchen, Mr. Carson's pantry opened to reveal the three ladies in question with Mr. Carson and Mr. Barrow. Mr. Carson seemed to be shooing them out into the hallway with a whispered "try to act normal."

Daisy frowned at hearing him speak. Something was off but she couldn't quite make out what it was. Turning to the new scullery maid she reassured her, "See? There they are. Nothing to worry about. Go about lighting the fires. Go on."

She watched the girl scurry off to gather her things for a moment. She didn't envy her taking care of the fires in the house. That was one job she was glad she didn't have anymore since becoming assistant cook to Mrs. Patmore, who she saw was having a rather heated conversation with Mr. Carson just inside the butler's pantry. When Mr. Carson noticed her looking at them, he shushed Mrs. Patmore and walked towards the kitchen with Mrs. Patmore in tow.

"Good morning, Daisy," Mr. Carson greeted her.

"Good morning, Mr. Carson."

He smiled at her making her frown. Mr. Carson never smiled at her. "Daisy, Mrs. Patmore and I have been talking and we think that it's time that you take on some more responsibilities in the kitchen, at least for today."

"I'm not sure I understand, Mr. Carson," she said looking to Mrs. Patmore for guidance.

"What we're trying to say," Mr. Carson said looking sternly at Mrs. Patmore who nodded, "is that you should begin learning how to run a kitchen on your own."

"Oh, you mean without Mrs. Patmore?" Daisy's eyes widen in worry. "Are you leaving Mrs. Patmore?"

Mrs. Patmore only looked up from the ground when Mr. Carson elbowed her in the side. "Of course I'm not leaving. This is just a," she looked up at Mr. Carson and sneered, " _learning_ _experience._ "

"Yes," Mr. Carson emphasized. "Just so. So you'll be running the kitchen all by yourself today. Everything is already planned so you should be fine. If you have any problems—"

"It'll be good practice!" Mrs. Patmore rudely interrupted which earned her a glare from Mr. Carson.

"No, just ask Mrs. Patmore for help."

Daisy looked in confusion between the cook and the butler. Mrs. Patmore had never spoken to her so rudely or if she had there had been a reason for it. And Mr. Carson was never this nice. And why would she need practice running a kitchen by herself if Mrs. Patmore wasn't planning on leaving? This whole conversation was too odd, but Mr. Carson was looking at her so earnestly she nodded her assent. She could always ask Mrs. Patmore about it later.

"So I'm to cook all the meals for both upstairs and down?" Mr. Carson nodded. "I can do that."

"Good, good," Mr. Carson smiled once more before pulling Mrs. Patmore out into the hallway and leaving Daisy in the kitchen. She leaned nearer the doorway when she heard them whispering fiercely.

"There was no need to be to rude to the poor girl. She's doing you a favor!"

"You need to smile less! I am _not_ a smiley person!"

"Honestly! Just go work on the kitchen books. Surely you can't mess that up!"

With that last comment, Daisy saw Mr. Carson flouncing away with an odd twitch to his hips that was vaguely familiar.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N This is the second update today. I don't own them.**

"Really, Mr. Bates," Anna giggled, "there's no need to be so cheeky."

Mr. Bates only smiled at her as he helped her off with her coat. He hung it by the servant's entrance with his things before following his wife down the hall to the servant's hall for breakfast. He held her chair for her as she sat and said her hellos before moving around the table to his seat beside Mr. Barrow.

"Good morning, Mrs. Hughes," he smiled at the housekeeper as he passed. To his surprise she grunted at him and rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't say that, Mr. Bates."

Bates narrowed his eyes at her rudeness and odd accent. She wasn't normally this rude to anyone. His consternation was complete when Mr. Barrow practically elbowed her.

"I mean, good morning, Mr. Bates," she said in a farcical Scottish accent.

"Is everything alright, Mrs. Hughes," Anna asked worriedly.

"Of course," again in the odd accent. Mr. Barrow interrupted before any more questions were asked.

"Please excuse, Mrs. Hughes. She has a bit of a headache."

Mrs. Hughes gave a pained smile as Anna exclaimed, "Oh, I'm sorry, Mrs. Hughes. Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you, Anna."

Mr. Barrow's explanation of her odd behavior seemed to placate everyone else around the table, but Mr. Bates didn't buy it. Mr. Barrow never stood up for anyone in the house since Jimmy left. His behavior didn't match. There was something more going on with Mrs. Hughes than a simple headache. He was pulled from his musings by the arrival of Mr. Carson followed by Mrs. Patmore. The left side of the table was forced to shift a seat so that Mrs. Patmore could sit.

"You're eating with us this morning, Mrs. Patmore?" Mr. Molesley asked the cook as she took her seat beside Mr. Carson.

"I fancied a change, Mr. Molesley," she said rather gruffly causing Ms. Baxter beside her to bite back a grin.

"Daisy, can we start breakfast?" Mr. Carson called. "We'll have to start our day soon enough."

Daisy set the kitchen maids to handing out breakfast as Mrs. Patmore muttered, "The sooner this blasted day is started the sooner it'll be over."

Mr. Bates looked on in bemusement as Mr. Barrow, Ms. Baxter, and Mrs. Hughes tried to suppress giggles which turned to mild shock when he noticed that even Mr. Carson had a small grin on his face.


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N I own nothing. Have some Cobert for your enjoyment.**

Cora woke gradually to the sun shining across her bedroom. She stretched over to feel Robert still asleep beside her. She nudged him awake.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," she smiled at him.

"Morning," he said leaning over to give her a kiss. She giggled before pushing him away.

"We need to get up. It's already after eight."

"Who cares what time it is?" he said pulling her back towards him.

"Robert!" Cora laughed leaning away from him to pull the cord for Baxter. "Go get dressed for breakfast. You have a meeting with the tenants this afternoon."

"Oh, don't remind me," Robert groaned throwing his feet over the side of the bed and sitting up. "I'm not looking forward to it at all."

"It can't be that bad," Cora mused watching her husband put on his dressing gown.

"Mr. Robinson has decided that he hates Mr. Carter since he started growing beets as well. So now Robinson isn't the sole beet farmer at Downton. It's a right mess in all honesty. A man has the right to farm as he wishes, but," he shrugged.

"Poor Mr. Robinson," Cora smiled in sympathy. They were interrupted by Baxter carrying in Cora's breakfast tray. Robert slapped his knees and stood.

"Well, I'll leave you to it."

He left for his dressing room as Baxter sat the tray over Cora's lap. Cora smiled in thanks and began to eat. She watched as Baxter set about gathering her clothes for the day in silence. "You're awfully quiet today, Baxter. Is something the matter?"

"No, your Ladyship," Baxter answered looking surprised to be addressed. Cora nodded and went back to her tea and toast. She wasn't in a particularly talkative mood today anyway. When she finished she motioned for Baxter to take the tray and then stood to wait for Baxter to begin dressing her.

"I think I'll take a walk this afternoon so please find my blue coat, Baxter."

"Yes, milady."

Cora looked more closely at Baxter as she stepped into her dress. Baxter was a reserved person by nature but she seemed to be even more so this morning. Cora normally exchanged pleasantries with Baxter at the very least and usually they would share a bit of household gossip. Baxter didn't seem ill although she was clumsier than usual.

"Are you sure you're alright, Baxter?" she asked concernedly. "You're not ill?"

"No, milady," came the hurried reply, "I'm perfectly alright, thank you."

Cora furrowed her brow at the brusqueness but decided to let it drop for now. She sat at her vanity and watched in the mirror as Baxter moved throughout the room. There was something odd about the way she moved as if she wasn't entirely sure what she was doing. She finally came to the vanity looking apprehensively at Cora's hair. Cora gave an exasperated sigh causing Baxter to jerk the ribbon tying her braid.

"Baxter!"

"I'm so sorry, milady!" Baxter fumbled pulling the braid again. Cora watched as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Cora looked intently at her in the mirror until she met her eyes. Baxter smiled apologetically and began brushing out Cora's hair more gently. She took longer than usual with Cora's hair and it wasn't as neat as it normally was, but Cora said nothing, more worried about her maid than the state of her hair.

"Will that be all, milady?"

Cora turned around to look squarely at Baxter. "I insist you tell me what is the matter."

"Milady, there is nothing—"

"There is obviously _something_ ," Cora persisted. "You've been distracted all morning. Now tell me what it is."

Baxter visibly swallowed glancing around the room helplessly. "I've not been feeling well, milady," she finally said. "Nothing a headache powder won't cure."

Cora continued her scrutiny of the woman before nodding slightly. "That will be all, Baxter. Thank you."

"Milady," she curtsied and scurried out the room leaving Cora to look after her in concern.


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N I don't own anything.**

Tom was the first one down for breakfast. He walked into the dining room to see Mr. Carson already at his place beside the sideboard.

"Good morning, Mr. Carson," he smiled at the man the same as he did every day. To his utter surprise the man smiled back warmly at him.

"Good morning, Mr. Branson."

Tom almost dropped his breakfast taking a second look at Mr. Carson. Mr. Carson had grudgingly accepted him as one of the family but he had never before been this kind, not even when Sybil had died. A small smile remained on Carson's face even when Tom went back to filling his plate with food. Tom kept glancing at the butler as he made his way to his seat at the table.

"Good morning, Tom. Carson." Edith smiled as she walked through the door.

Tom smiled at her, returning her greeting. He watched Mr. Carson smile as well. Edith didn't seem to think anything of it, but it was still confusing to Tom. He tried to catch Edith's eye to see if she found Carson's good mood odd. He threw her a questioning look but she only shrugged.

"What do you have planned for today?" Tom asked her.

"I'm off to London again in the afternoon. I'm meeting a few writers for the magazine. Are you still going with Papa to meet with the tenants?"

"I am," Tom said looking up as Lord Grantham walked in who greeted them before moving to the side table for food. Tom saw him look funny at Mr. Carson.

"You seem to be in a good mood today, Carson," Lord Grantham commented. Tom took the opportunity to openly look at Mr. Carson who quickly schooled his face into a slight scowl.

"Am I, milord? I apologize."

"No need for that, Carson," Lord Grantham laughed but Tom noticed that Mr. Carson made a decided effort not to crack a smile throughout the rest of breakfast.


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N Thank you all so much for your reviews! I'm sorry I haven't been replying back like I should.  
I don't own these characters.**

Molesley had just finished helping Andy carry down the breakfast dishes when he saw Ms. Baxter walking along the hall. "Ms. Baxter!"

He called again when she didn't seem to hear him, but she kept walking. He jogged to catch her before she entered the kitchen and grabbed her arm. She gasped when she turned to see him.

"Mr. Molesley!"

"Ms. Baxter," he smiled. "I'm sorry to startle you but you didn't hear me call."

"Oh, right," she mumbled. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright. I just wanted to see you," he waggled his eyebrows, "and tell you how beautiful you look today."

Her surprised look turned to one of utter glee. "Oh! Oh, yes, thank you, Mr. Molesley," she stammered beginning to giggle.

Confused but happy Molesley continued, "You're welcome. Can you still meet me in the courtyard before servant's dinner tonight?"

Ms. Baxter's mouth fell open. "I'm awfully busy today…"

"Just for a few minutes," he implored.

"I—"

"Please, Phyllis?"

She looked around her helplessly before finally sighing, "Oh alright, then."

Molesley beamed at her, looked quickly around the hall then leaned down to give her a quick kiss. Ms. Baxter blushed and turned away back toward the kitchen. Molesley stood watching her walk away for a moment. Just as he turned, he heard her whisper gleefully to someone in the kitchen.

"I was right! You owe me a bottle of brandy!"


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N I don't own Downton Abbey. Thank you to all my kind reviewers! They mean the world to me!**

"Madge, have you seen Mrs. Hughes?"

"Sorry, Anna, I haven't."

Anna sighed and continued down the hall looking in rooms to find Mrs. Hughes. Lady Mary wanted to make sure that everything was settled for Mr. Blake's visit next week. Anna had told her it was all well in hand, but when Lady Mary had the bit between her teeth it was impossible to dissuade her.

Anna despaired of finding Mrs. Hughes when she finally found her in Lady Edith's room along with Mr. Carson. Anna scrunched her face in confusion at his presence. He shouldn't be in the bedrooms at this time of day. And why did he seem to be telling Mrs. Hughes how to check if the rooms had been cleaned correctly?

"Mrs. Hughes?" she said knocking on the door interrupting them.

"Yes, Anna?" Mr. Carson said turning towards her. Anna looked at him wide eyed until he blushed and looked away coughing.

"I was looking for Mrs. Hughes, Mr. Carson," Anna spoke slowly.

"What did you want?" Mrs. Hughes sounded odd.

Anna narrowed her eyes at the two heads of staff. "Lady Mary just wanted me to check that Mr. Blake's room was ready for his visit."

Mrs. Hughes looked at Mr. Carson quizzically. "Yes, of course, it's ready—" Mr. Carson shook his head, " _will_ be ready," a small nod," by the time Mr. Blake is here."

"Alright," Anna's voice was laced with doubt. Mrs. Hughes had an even odder accent than at breakfast. "Is everything alright, Mrs. Hughes?"

"Of course it is," she answered a little too quickly. She kept glancing guiltily at Mr. Carson.

Realization finally dawned on Anna. _Of course,_ she thought. She wasn't just interrupting a conversation between two colleagues but one between an engaged couple. She blushed at the thought.

"Well," she said trying to hide her embarrassment, "I'll leave you to it."

She walked out of the room as quickly as she could. She didn't know if she was more embarrassed or if they were. Still it was kind of cute, she smiled to herself.


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N I don't own Downton Abbey or the characters. Thank you all so much for your lovely reviews!**

Edith bounced Marigold on her hip as she made her way down the servants' stairs to the kitchen. They were on a mission for chocolate biscuits. Mrs. Patmore always saved some for her and Marigold's morning snack.

"Hello, Mrs. Patmore," she smiled warmly at the cook walking into the kitchen.

"Lady Edith!" the cook squeaked leaping from her chair. "What are you doing down here? I mean, how can I help you, milady?"

"We're here for a biscuit raid, aren't we, Marigold?" Edith smiled at a giggling Marigold.

Mrs. Patmore looked around the kitchen nervously. "Yes, milady."

She didn't move from her spot. Edith watched her rooted to the floor before taking pity on the poor woman. "The biscuits, Mrs. Patmore?"

"Yes, milady," she replied walking aimlessly around the kitchen.

Edith shot a worried look at Daisy who had been watching the exchange with concern. She only shrugged helplessly at Edith. Daisy finally took pity on the cook and took out a tin of biscuits to hand to her. Mrs. Patmore gratefully took the biscuit tin and made to hand it to Lady Edith before she jerked them back and turned in search of something. Edith jumped at the sudden movement jostling Marigold who began to cry.

"I'm so sorry, milady!" Mrs. Patmore exclaimed.

"It's alright, Mrs. Patmore," Edith tried to reassure Mrs. Patmore as she tried to soothe Marigold. "I think we'll skip the biscuits today."

She turned and left Mrs. Patmore standing with a plate of biscuits. She shushed Marigold out in the hallway. Marigold's crying brought Mrs. Hughes out of her sitting room.

"Is everything alright, milady?" she asked.

"Yes, Mrs. Hughes," Edith said as Marigold calmed. She glanced back at the kitchen before leaning conspiratorially towards the housekeeper. "I'm rather worried about Mrs. Patmore, if I'm honest. She doesn't seem to be herself."

Mrs. Hughes smirked, "She's been a bit out of sorts today, milady, but it's nothing to worry about."

Edith nodded. "Well, if you say so. If you could have someone bring some biscuits up to the nursery?"

"Of course, milady."

Edith smiled and then headed back up to the nursery. "I'm sorry, Marigold. We'll get some chocolate biscuits later."


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N I don't own the characters. Thank you all for your lovely reviews!**

The weather had calmed finally from the storms of last night and Robert was itching to get out of doors with his new puppy— a gift from Tom before he and Sybbie were to leave for Boston. Their walk through the gardens towards the small pond had been less than peaceful. The pup tried to eat almost every flower they passed. He had forgotten how much work a puppy was. Isis had been such a good dog that the energy and excitement of a puppy was somewhat overwhelming. But he was glad for the new addition. Although he did have to come up with a better name for the pup instead of Sybbie's suggestion of "Little Donk."

Robert finally reached the pond with the pup still in tow. He sat under a tree and watched the pup run around sniffing everything she saw. "How about Cleopatra?" he asked the pup. "How does that sound, Cleo?"

The puppy stopped mid-hop and ran to Robert. "So Cleo is a good name?" She tried to lick his face. "Alright, alright, Cleo it is." He scratched behind her ears as she settled her little head in his lap and fell asleep. Robert leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes for just a moment. No need to wake Cleo just yet.

A rumble of thunder jerked him awake. Cleo leapt up barking at the sky which was much darker than when they had first come to the pond. Robert checked his watch to see how long he had been asleep—not even half an hour—but the sky was almost as black as the hours before dusk. Another rumble sent him to his feet. He needed to get back to the house before the rain began pelting down.

He walked faster than he had coming out from the Abbey almost leaving Cleo behind in his haste. After she had tripped for the third time trying to keep up with him, Robert reached down and put the puppy under his arm. They reached the gravel drive just as the heavens opened drenching them in seconds. Robert tucked Cleo under his coat as best he could while running up to the front doors.

Bursting through the front door he met a startled Mr. Carson and Mr. Barrow. They both jumped to help him with his coat only to realize that it held a squirming puppy.

"I'm quite alright, Carson," Robert brushed off the butler's concern, "but Cleo needs a bath."

He made to hand the puppy to Barrow who used to take care of Isis but instead of holding her Barrow let her drop to the floor.

"Barrow!" Robert knelt to see if Cleo was hurt. She whimpered but didn't seem to be injured. "What were you thinking, man?"

"I—I—" Barrow stuttered frozen in fear.

"I'll take care of her, milord," Carson said kneeling with Robert. He picked up the puppy and turned to Barrow. "Mr. Barrow, if you will help His Lordship with his coat."

Shaking, Barrow moved to help Robert from the floor and took Robert's coat into the coat room

"I'm sorry, milord, I don't know whatever came over Mr. Barrow."

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again!" Robert snapped. "Tell Bates I wish to wash before I leave for the tenant meeting at two."

"Yes, milord."

Robert stormed away toward the staircase up to his rooms. He wanted out of his wet clothes as quickly as possible. He was glad to see Bates outside his door as he reached it. He nodded at the man holding the door for him.

"Milord," Bates said pulling off Robert's wet jacket.

"I thought it was finished raining," Robert grumbled.

"Apparently not, milord," Bates smirked taking out Robert's cufflinks.

Robert glared half-heartedly at his valet. "The rain wasn't so bad. Tell me, have you noticed anything off with Barrow?"

"Off? How so, milord?" Bates asked continuing to undress him.

"I asked him to take Cleo," Bates's looked at him in confusion, "the new puppy Sybbie gave me."

"I thought she had named it Little Donk, milord," Bates smirked.

"Well," Robert huffed, "I'm changing it to Cleo. Anyway, Barrow dropped her when we came in. He looked almost terrified of her."

"Of the puppy, milord? That doesn't sound like him. He loves dogs."

"He was definitely fond of Isis. Cleo is only a puppy," Robert slipped into his bathrobe and walked to the bathroom door. "It's very odd. See if you can find out if anything's the matter with Barrow."

"Yes, milord."


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N I don't know if this will post correctly. I'm not even sure if the last chapter was right. Fanfiction has been weird all day, so let me know if something doesn't look right. Thank you for all your lovely reviews! I don't own Downton Abbey or its characters.**

Mary wrinkled her nose at the wet stains in the carpet as she walked down the staircase on her way to the library. _I wonder who was dumb enough to get caught out in the rain?_ she thought derisively. _Probably Edith._ The maids must be slacking if they haven't cleaned up the mess yet. She'll have to say something to Carson about it.

"Carson," she called, spotting him in the coat room handing Papa's new puppy to Andy. He finished speaking with Andy before walking towards her. He normally dropped everything when he saw her.

"Can I help, milady?" he asked coldly.

Mary was taken aback by his tone. "I just wanted to let you know about the carpet on the stairs. It looks like someone tracked the rain inside." She smiled at him.

Carson glared at her. "His Lordship was caught in the rain earlier. He's just gone to his room."

Mary looked at him in concern, but smiled conspiratorially, "I was just curious why the carpet was still wet. Mrs. Hughes isn't letting her maids slack now that she's an engaged woman, is she?"

Carson drew himself up to his full height and look down his nose disdainfully. "Mrs. Hughes would never slack in her job, milady."

"Goodness, Carson," Mary said taken aback. "I meant no disrespect."

Carson's only response was a low grunt and to glare over Mary's shoulder. She didn't know what had happened to make him so angry with her. She didn't think her remark about Mrs. Hughes was too bad. Surely she hadn't upset him with only that.

"Carson, are you alright?" she asked. "I'm sorry if I've upset you. I didn't mean anything."

"You've done nothing wrong, milady," his words didn't match his tone. "Will that be all, milady?"

Mary searched his face for some hint of the Carson she knew. Finding none she nodded, "Yes, Carson."

He turned on his heel and left her standing in the hallway. Something was wrong with Carson and Mary was going to find out what.


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N This is a little angsty. Mrs. Hughes finally loses her cool.  
I don't own Downton Abbey.**

Mr. Carson was trying to stay out of Daisy's way. He really was. He had no idea how to cook a meal let alone run a kitchen. Daisy was doing a fine job, as far as he could tell, but she kept trying to talk to him about Mrs. Patmore leaving. No matter how many times he told her "no" she wouldn't stop with the questions and it was beginning to try what little patience he had left.

"I just don't think I'm ready to run a kitchen by myself _all_ the time," Daisy said as she moved about. Carson nodded along. "I mean, I can do it, but I'm not really sure I should."

A loud bang came from the servant's stairs followed by someone stomping their way down them. Carson sighed in relief and stood. "I should see what's going on."

He left before Daisy could stop him, stepping into the hall just in time to see the door to Mrs. Hughes's sitting room slam close. Mr. Barrow had no reason to treat her room that way. He hurried down the hall to give the man a lesson in respect. Bursting through the door he had a reprimand on the tip of his tongue when he noticed himself standing in the middle of the housekeeper's sitting room. He froze in the doorway staring at the rigid man before him.

"Mrs Hughes," he said quietly, closing the door behind him. "Is everything...alright?"

He watched her clench her fists a few times before she turned to glare down at him. "No, Mr. Carson, everything in _not_ alright."

She was speaking very quietly which was never a good sign. Something had made her very angry. He would have to tread carefully if he wanted to make it through this conversation unscathed. He decided to let her speak first.

" If I _never_ see your blessed Lady Mary again it'll be too soon."

"What do you think she's done now," he scoffed only realizing his mistake after he'd said it.

"I don't think anything! I know what she's done! She's gone and insulted not only me but my maids as well!"

"She would never do such a thing!"

"Oh really? She would never do such a thing!" she mocked.

Now he was getting angry as well. He still couldn't stand when she bad-mouthed a daughter of the house. "Not intentionally!"

"Oh! So she didn't mean to insult me," she cried rolling her eyes. "That makes it so much better."

She turned to begin pacing the small room. Carson gritted his teeth to keep from digging himself into an even bigger whole. He drew in a deep breathe. "What exactly did she say?"

Mrs. Hughes stopped her pacing. "She wanted to know why there were still wet stains in the carpet not five minutes after a soaking wet Lord Grantham made the tracks. As if anyone would have had the time to do anything about it by then!"

"She just wants her home to be clean," Carson tried to reason.

Mrs. Hughes scoffed. "Of course you see nothing wrong!"

"That's not what I meant," he tried again.

A knock on the door stemmed any reply Mrs. Hughes had. "What is it?"

Mr. Barrow as Mrs. Hughes stuck his head around the door, "You're being awfully loud. Everyone is wondering why Mr. Carson and Mrs. Patmore are arguing in my sitting room."

Mrs. Hughes seemed to notice where she was for the first time. "I didn't even think about where I was going."

"They're all going to think we're mad," Carson huffed in amusement.

"I think they're already there," Barrow agreed.

Mrs. Hughes closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. "Enough, Mr. Barrow. We'll be out in a moment."

Barrow nodded and stepped out of the room. Carson eyed Mrs. Hughes carefully. She seemed more relaxed than when he had first found her.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have gotten angry with you, but sometimes I'd give anything to knock Lady Mary down a peg or two."

Carson only nodded. He couldn't expect anything more of her about Lady Mary. She would never see her the way he did. "Yes, well…"

"You know," Mrs. Hughes said looking at him vaguely predatorily, "if you didn't look like Mrs. Patmore right now I might be inclined to give you a kiss in apology."

Throwing his hands up, Carson shuddered, "Please, no. I don't think I could handle that right now."

"I'll save it for when we're back to normal then," she laughed leading him towards the door.

"I'm glad one of us is so optimistic."


	20. Chapter 19

**A/N I'm sorry I didn't get to post yesterday. To be honest I had to rewrite this chapter I don't know how many times before I was satisfied with it. I'm not sure how it turned out.  
Thank you always for your reviews! **

"No! Don't!" Andy cried leaping to grab the squirming puppy. He missed only to land head first in the tub full of dog bath water. He looked up just in time to see the puppy disappear out of the door of the laundry room towards the servant's hall. Slipping on the wet floor, he ran after her.

He finally caught up with the puppy in the servant's hall where she had somehow managed to climb atop the table. She was shaking all the water from her fur as the maids shrieked and tried to cover their mending from the water droplets flying around them. Andy reached for her, but she slipped easily from the table to the floor, scrambling to escape. She ran for to the open back door with Andy hot on her heels. Just as she made the stairs leading up to the door, Andy made a desperate jump for her.

"Got you!" he triumphed.

"What on earth?! I said to give the dog a bath not take one with it!"

Andy looked up from the floor to an incredulous Mr. Carson. Mrs. Patmore stood just behind him with a face like thunder. But Andy's momentary lapse in concentration gave little Cleo the opening she needed to escape. She wriggled out of his arms and out the door. Andy looked terrified up at the butler and cook.

"Don't just sit there," Mr. Carson rolled his eyes. "Go get her! And clean yourself up, for goodness sakes!"

Andy leapt up, grateful for an excuse to get away, but stopped to turn back to Mr. Carson. "But won't I be late to serve Family tea?"

"You can't serve the Family tea like this!" Mrs. Patmore exclaimed.

"Thank you, Mr. Car— _Mrs. Patmore_! I'm well aware of that," Mr. Carson thundered. "Mr. Barrow and Mr. Moseley can take care of it. Now go take care of that dog!"

Andy ran outside confused about Mr. Carson's slip up with Mrs. Patmore's name. Why would Mr. Carson call someone else by his own name? Come to think of it, Mr. Carson hadn't sounded like himself at all. He had sounded almost… Scottish. Andy looked back at the house in confusion. What was going on?

He was pulled from his thoughts by a joyful bark. He followed it to find Cleo happily rolling around in a mud puddle.

"Oh, you've got to be joking!"


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N A reviewer mentioned that something telling who is who would be helpful. If you think it helps then I'll put one before every chapter from now on. Let me know what you think about it. As always thank you so much for your reviews. They mean a lot to me.**

 **A Who's Who in** ** _Violet_** **** ** _Storm_**  
 **Mrs.** **Hughes is Mr. Carson  
Mr. Carson is Mrs. Patmore  
Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter  
Ms. Baxter is Mr. Barrow  
Mr. Barrow is Mrs. Hughes**

"Why do you look so gleeful to be going to tea? And why does it make me so worried?"

"Honestly, Isobel," Violet practically chirruped. "Am I not allowed to be happy now?"

Isobel looked askance at her friend sitting beside her in the back seat of the car. She had been looking forward to a quiet afternoon reading the new medical journal she had pilfered from Dr. Clarkson's office when Violet had pulled up in her drive and demanded that she attend tea with her at the Abbey. Isobel still wasn't sure what to make of the last minute request and Violet's current attitude.

"It's just that whenever I've seen you this happy something unpleasant always happens or is going to happen very soon."

"I'm never happy with other's misfortune, Isobel. You should know that by now," she replied as the car pulled to the front of the Abbey. Carson was waiting at the front door for them. He moved to open the door for them.

"If you say so," Isobel replied skeptically. She smiled at Carson as he helped her from the car and waited for Violet to join her.

"Carson knows I don't revel in others troubles," Violet nodded at the butler. "Don't you, Carson?"

"Of course not, milady." He led them into the front hallway where Molesley was waiting to take their coats. "Her Ladyship is in the Library."

"Thank you, Carson."

He led them through to the library where Cora and Mary were already seated.

"Is this all of us, then?" Isobel asked once she and Violet were seated.

"I'm afraid so," Cora said.

"Yes," Mary continued, "Papa and Tom had to go to some horrid tenant's meeting."

"And Edith?" Isobel asked.

"She had to go to London, thank goodness."

"Mary!"

Mary shrugged as she took her cup from Molesley. "So, Granny, why did you suddenly invite yourself to tea?"

"Can't one have tea with one's family?"

Isobel rolled her eyes at Violet's superior tone. It didn't satisfy Mary either who leaned closer to her grandmother to whisper to her. Isobel turned instead to speak to Cora but not before she saw a gleeful expression pass over Violet's face when Mary whispered Carson's name. Violet was definitely up to something.


	22. Chapter 21

**A/N Thank you all for your reviews!**

 **A Who's Who in** **_Violet Storm_**

 **Mrs. Hughes is Mr. Carson  
Mr. Carson is Mrs. Patmore  
Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter  
Ms. Baxter is Mr. Barrow  
Mr. Barrow is Mrs. Hughes**

Molesley was having a good day. He was looking forward to his meeting with Phyllis later tonight. Thinking about her helped him to get through the dullness of family tea. After he had given the Ladies their tea he had to stand behind Carson until they were all finished. He had Mrs. Crawley's tea left to serve that Mr. Barrow was pouring. He went to reach to place the cup and saucer on his serving tray when his fingers brushed against Mr. Barrow's. Molesley thought nothing of it but when he looked up Mr. Barrow was blushing.

"Sorry, Mr. Barrow."

"It's nothing, Joseph, I mean, Mr. Molesley," Barrow stammered blushing scarlet.

Molesley looked at him wide eyed. Barrow had never called him by his first name. He was stunned speechless. Did Mr. Barrow have a—no! He couldn't, could he?

"Mr. Molesley!" Carson hissed.

He stepped back quickly from Mr. Barrow and walked over to serve Mrs. Crawley her tea. She thanked him and then he walked around the far side of the serving table away from Mr. Barrow. He glanced surreptitiously at the under butler. Molesley knew about Mr. Barrow's proclivities. Everyone did. But he didn't think that he had any interest in anyone in the house since Jimmy left. If Barrow had developed some kind of interest in him, Molesley didn't want to give him any encouragement. He spent the rest of the time purposefully avoiding looking at Mr. Barrow.

The Ladies finished their tea and Carson signaled for Molesley and Barrow to clean up. They both jumped into action picking up after the Ladies. Molesley avoided going too near Mr. Barrow until he was placing the last cup on the tray to take down to the kitchen. Barrow stepped into him almost knocking the tray out of his hands and spilling the leftover tea down the front of his trousers.

"Oh! Mr. Molesley!" Barrow exclaimed taking a rag and beginning to wipe the excess liquid off of Molesley's front. "I am so sorry."

"I'm quite alright, Mr. Barrow," Molesley said hurriedly pushing Barrow's hands away from his crotch.

"What is going on?" Carson hissed coming over toward them.

"Nothing, Mr. Carson," Molesley quickly explained too loudly.

The butler looked speculatively at Mr. Barrow before saying, "Get those tea things out of here. The both of you."

Molesley hurried out of the door before Barrow. He heard Mr. Carson assuring the Ladies that everything was just fine as the door to the library closed. He walked as fast as he could to the kitchen, but Mr. Barrow called him back.

"Mr. Molesley, I really am sorry."

"As I said, I'm fine," Molesley muttered. "Now I really must get on."

He left Mr. Barrow standing outside the library door. Molesley caught a devastated look cross Barrow's face as he started down the stairs to the kitchen. He shuddered to think that a man like Barrow could possibly have a crush on him. He was going to have to keep as far away from the under butler as he could from now on.


	23. Chapter 22

**A/N Thank you all so much for your reviews! They make my day.**

 **A Who's Who in** ** _Violet Storm_** **  
Mrs. Hughes is Mr. Carson  
Mr. Carson is Mrs. Patmore  
Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter  
Ms. Baxter is Mr. Barrow  
Mr. Barrow is Mrs. Hughes**

Mrs. Patmore had had about all she could take of sitting around mending her Ladyship's clothes. She was doing everything by hand instead of using Ms. Baxter's sewing machine. She still wasn't comfortable using the new electric gadgets in the kitchen so there was no way she was going to take any risks with Lady Grantham's clothes. One of her dresses cost more than Mrs. Patmore made in a year. She shuddered at the thought. Thinking it was time for a break she put the dress back into Ms. Baxter's mending basket. She thought about going to check on Daisy. Maybe going for a cup of tea wouldn't be too conspicuous.

She heard Daisy before she saw her. She was in the midst of dinner preparations and was yelling to tear the house down at a poor kitchen maid who had let the bread burn around the edges. Mrs. Patmore stood with a small smile in the doorway a moment as she watched Daisy take the problem in hand. In seemingly no time she had reprimanded the maid and set her to fixing what she had done wrong. She was growing up, Mrs. Patmore thought, wiping a small tear from her eye.

"Was there something you needed, _Ms. Baxter_?"

Turning to glare at Mr. Carson sat at her desk she replied, "No, _Mrs. Patmore,_ not really. I was just in search of a cup of tea."

"Well, you know where the tea things are," he sneered.

"Indeed, I do," she said marching over to the kettle already on the stove. Instead of making a single cup of tea she made a pot and put it and three cups on a tray. "Come on, Mrs. Patmore, Mrs. Hughes wants to speak with us."

"She does?" He looked up startled.

"Yes."

She walked past him toward Mrs. Hughes's sitting room ignoring his worried expression. She heard him follow not long after. She reached the door before him and waited for him to open it. She placed the tray on Mrs. Hughes side table as Mr. Carson shut the door behind them. She fixed them both a cup of tea before sitting down with a sigh. She studied Mr. Carson over her teacup. It was surreal to be having tea with herself. She looked nothing like how she imagined she would. Everything was opposite from what she remembered.

"Do I look like this all the time?"

Mr. Carson looked up startled. "What do you mean?"

"Well, do I always look like- like this?" she said gesturing up and down.

Mr. Carson looked down at himself confused. "I suppose so."

Mrs. Patmore rolled her eyes and huffed, "Men!"

"You said Mr. Hughes needed to speak to us?"

"I just needed a reason to get you out of Daisy's hair for a bit."

"I've kept out of her way," he sniffed indignantly.

"I'm sure," she smirked over her teacup as he began to bluster. "How is Daisy doing?" she said hurriedly changing the subject. He stopped and sighed into his tea.

"Well as far as I can tell. Although dinner will be the real test."

"Yes, but I think she can handle it." He hummed in agreement.

"She's been asking a lot of questions about you leaving, though." He waved away her questioning look. "I've told her it's only for one day."

"Hopefully one day," she muttered.

"Hopefully," he sighed and they lapsed into silence. They sat drinking their tea until a knock on the door interrupted them. Mr. Barrow opened the door. It took Mrs. Patmore a moment to remember it was actually Ms. Baxter.

"I'm sorry," Ms. Baxter said. "I was looking for Mr. Barrow."

Mrs. Patmore looked to Mr. Carson who shook his head. "I'm sorry, love, we've not seen him."

"Thank you," she said closing the door. Mrs. Patmore leaned conspiratorially toward Mr. Carson once she was sure Baxter couldn't hear.

"That reminds me. You'll never guess what Mr. Molesley said to me this morning."


	24. Chapter 23

**A/N Thank you to those of you who are sticking with this crazy story. We're almost to the end. Thank you for all your lovely reviews!**

 **A Who's Who is** ** _Violet Storm  
_** **Mrs. Hughes is Mr. Carson  
Mr. Carson is Mrs. Patmore  
Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter  
Ms. Baxter is Mr. Barrow  
Mr. Barrow is Mrs. Hughes**

"Oh my God!" Mr. Barrow guffawed. "You can't be serious!"

"Shhh! Please," Ms. Baxter implored looking furtively around her. "It's bad enough as it is. He doesn't need to think that I'm laughing at him with Mrs. Hughes."

Barrow tried to get his mirth under control, but Ms. Baxter's accounting of the tea party practically had him in stitches. Molesley thinking he had made a move on him was surreal. "Well, he'll think _I_ was having a laugh with Mrs. Hughes, not you."

"Still," she pleaded with him. "He doesn't think enough of himself as it is. If he thought Mrs. Hughes was laughing at him, he'd be devastated."

"Alright," he relented. "Although I am a little insulted that he would think I'd be interested in _him_ of all the people in this house."

Ms. Baxter glared down at him. "Just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he quickly backtracked. "It's just that, while he is obviously a good man, he's not exactly my type."

"He is a good man," Ms. Baxter agreed smiling down at her shoes. "But what am I going to do? We normally meet for a bit outside before dinner. I can't go to him like this. He's already on edge. And what about Mrs. Patmore?"

"How am I supposed to know what you're to do?" Barrow relented at her pained expression and sighed. "Look, why don't you just talk to Mrs. Patmore about it. She can play along with him."

"But we didn't want anyone to know about us! At least not for a while."

"Well, just say that you help him out in the yard, I don't know, picking up a bit or something, but that since you're not you, she should make up some kind of excuse for not helping tonight."

"I don't think she would fall for that," Ms. Baxter worried.

"Then you're just going to have to bite the bullet and tell her the truth."

Ms. Baxter began wringing her hands, visibly shaking. Barrow sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Alright, look. I'll talk to her. Make up some excuse for you. Don't worry about it."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Barrow!" She gushed relieved.

"Don't mention it," he said brushing her hand from his arm. "Well, you'd probably best go help Mrs. Hughes set the table."

He watched her walk away up the stairs before turning to walk to Mrs. Hughes's sitting room. Well, _his_ sitting room now. At least as long as they weren't who they were supposed to be. He shook his head against these circular thoughts and pushed open the sitting room door. A startled Mrs. Patmore and Ms. Baxter looked up at him. No-a startled Mr. Carson and Mrs. Patmore looked up at him. How fortuitous.

"Mrs. Patmore, the real Mrs. Patmore," he added at the identical confused looks on their faces. "I wonder if I might have a word. In private. Mr. Carson, if you would-"

"This is not your office to be giving orders in and you'd do well to remember that," Carson growled.

"I know that, Mr. Carson, but it is rather important that I speak with Mrs. Patmore."

Barrow didn't know how but Mr. Carson's scowl from Mrs. Patmore's face was worse than the original. Carson finally looked away and got up from his chair. "Thank you for the tea, Mrs. Patmore."

Barrow shut the door after him and turned to a smirking Mrs. Patmore. "What was it you needed to speak with me about?"

He took a deep breath. He was going to have to be very careful of what he said. "It's about Mr. Molesley and...Ms. Baxter."

"Oh?"

"Yes, you see, Ms. Baxter usually helps Mr. Molesley pick up in the yard before servant's dinner if she's not too busy. But Ms. Baxter is afraid that if you help him tonight he might guess that something is wrong."Mrs. Patmore's eyebrows had risen throughout his hurried speech. "So it would be best all round if you come up with an excuse not to help him tonight."

"I see," she said slowly. "Well, that may be a problem as I've already said I would meet him."

"What?!" Barrow startled himself with the high pitched screech.

"Don't worry. Their secret is safe with me!" she chuckled walking out of the door leaving Barrow to stare after her.


	25. Chapter 24

**A/N A small bridge chapter. This is the last chapter I've already written. So the daily updates may turn into every other day. Don't worry, I'm not going to abandon this story. Thanks for your reviews!**

"Tell me again why you have to go with her Ladyship to the Abbey?"

Denker rolled her eyes at the butler standing over her as she packed an overnight bag for the Dowager Countess. Really, Spratt could be so irritating. He just couldn't leave well enough alone.

"Her Ladyship is staying the night and she wants me to go with her."

"But it's just one night!" he spluttered. "She has never taken a maid with her to the Abbey for only one night."

"I'm just doing as I'm told," she said packing the Dowager's things into the valise.

"Since when!"

Denker looked up sharply at him. He was pacing the bedroom muttering to himself. He was working himself into a right state. _Well_ , she thought going back to her packing, _let him_. He was worse than child sometimes.

"It's just not done," he finally said stopping to look down at her.

"Here," she said closing the clasp on the valise and thrusting it at him. "Be a good butler and take this to the car."

She let go and he could do nothing but grasp hold of the bag. Denker smirked at him over her shoulder as she walked out of the Dowager's bedroom. She had her own overnight bag to pack. She really had no idea why she was going to the Abbey, but she wasn't going to complain. It would be one blissful night free of Spratt. She cackled to herself as she climbed the servant's stairs to her room. She would have to thank the Dowager later.


	26. Chapter 25

**A/N I'm back! This chapter was killing me, but I finally got it to where it needed to be. And I'm four chapters ahead! So I can get back to posting daily. Thanks for your reviews and support for this wacky story!**

 **A Who's Who is** ** _Violet Storm  
_** **Mrs. Hughes is Mr. Carson  
Mr. Carson is Mrs. Patmore  
Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter  
Ms. Baxter is Mr. Barrow  
Mr. Barrow is Mrs. Hughes**

"So are you going to tell me why you were so intent I stay the night at the Abbey?"

Isobel sighed in exasperation at Violet's shake of her head. She couldn't help but think she was being overly mysterious. She had definitely been on top form at tea, subtly soliciting an invitation for she and Isobel to stay the night from Cousin Cora. Isobel was still fuming that Violet had accepted for them both before she could say anything.

"We were already going to dinner. It's easier to stay after," Violet declared haughtily.

Isobel rolled her eyes. "We've gone to dinner countless times without staying the night. I thought that's what the cars are for."

Violet only pursed her lips and looked out the window. "Denker will help you dress tonight."

"I don't need help dressing for bed."

"Denker," Violet called, ignoring Isobel's objection, "you'll be helping Mrs. Crawley tonight, as well."

"Of course, milady. I'd be glad to."

Isobel glared at her friend until Violet huffed and turned back to her.

"Suffice to say I'll need your help tonight."

"What kind of help?" Isobel asked suspiciously.

"You'll find out after dinner," she said turning back to the window and refusing to speak the rest of the way to the Abbey.

 **Please leave a review if you have the time :)**


	27. Chapter 26

**A/n Thank you for your reviews!**

 **A Who's Who in** ** _Violet Storm  
_** **Mrs. Hughes is Mr. Carson  
Mr. Carson is Mrs. Patmore  
Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter  
Ms. Baxter is Mr. Barrow  
Mr. Barrow is Mrs. Hughes**

"Mama! Cousin Isobel!" Robert called upon entering the drawing room. "How nice of you to join us."

Violet pursed her lips at her son but accepted his kiss in greeting. "You act as if we never come for dinner."

"Well, you usually don't both stay the night after," he joked as his mother rolled her eyes and Isobel huffed in amusement. He watched Violet move to speak with Mary before turning back to Isobel.

"Why _are_ the two of you staying the night?"

"Well, I'm not sure," Isobel hedged, " but I think Cousin Violet may be tired of traveling and just wanted me to stay to keep her company."

Robert hummed in acceptance as he watched his mother and eldest daughter conferring in the corner of the room. He shot a sharp look at Isobel. "She's not ill, is she?"

Isobel's eyes widened as she looked over to the corner. "No. No, I don't think so."

He wanted to ask her more, but Carson came through to announce dinner. He smiled instead and gestured for Isobel to go before him. He watched his mother for any signs of illness as they walked into the dining room, but the only thing out of the ordinary was Carson's blush as Violet whispered something in his ear.


	28. Chapter 27

**A/N Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I really just forgot to do it. I'll try to remember better. Thanks for your reviews!**

 **A Who's Who in** ** _Violet Storm  
_** **Mrs. Hughes is Mr. Carson  
Mr. Carson is Mrs. Patmore  
Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter  
Ms. Baxter is Mr. Barrow  
Mr. Barrow is Mrs. Hughes**

Ms. Baxter was having a difficult time in dinner service remembering what she was supposed to do and when she was supposed to do it. Luckily for her, Mrs. Hughes was in charge of the dinner service tonight instead of the actual Mr. Carson. She would gently prompt Ms. Baxter instead of having an apoplectic fit, which is what she is sure Mr. Carson would be doing if he were here. She was also lucky that Mr. Molesley and Andrew were serving most of the food leaving Ms. Baxter to fill the wine.

Joseph was avoiding coming near her. and while she didn't blame him after the disaster she had made of family tea, it still hurt. She hadn't been able to speak to Joseph all day trapped as she was in Mr. Barrow's body. She hadn't realized how much she relied on her time with him until she didn't have any. She only hoped that Mr. Barrow had convinced Mrs. Patmore not to meet with Joseph tonight. She feared it would only make things worse.

"I know it's been a long and trying day," Mrs. Hughes whispered, jerking her out of her thoughts. Mrs. Hughes took the wine decanter Ms. baxter was holding and switched it for another. "But we must all do as we need to. Pour the family's wine."

Ms. Baxter nodded and moved to do as she was instructed. She felt someone staring at her as she moved around the table. She looked up to see Joseph staring at her quizzically, but as soon as they made eye contact he stared angrily at the opposite wall. Ms. Baxter held back a sigh as she moved around the table, pouring wine.


	29. Chapter 28

**A/N Thank you all so much for your kind reviews.**

 **A Who's Who in Violet Storm  
Mrs. Hughes is Mr. Carson  
Mr. Carson is Mrs. Patmore  
Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter  
Ms. Baxter is Mr. Barrow  
Mr. Barrow is Mrs. Hughes**

Mary and Granny were scheming. Edith had seen their furtive glances enough in her life to know that whatever they were up to was not good. If it had only been Mary acting oddly, Edith would have thought it had something to do with her. But since Granny was involved she didn't think it did, especially since the subject of their attention was Carson. Going by their smirks, Edith felt sorry for whatever they had in store for the butler. Granny fired the first volley.

"How are your wedding preparations coming along, Carson?"

Startled to be addressed in this way during dinner, Carson stumbled, "Quite-um-quite well, milady."

"Good," Granny smiled and went back to her soup. She adopted an air of innocence, but Edith caught the small smirk she sent towards Mary.

Edith kept an eye on the two of them as Mama spoke to Carson about flowers for the church and Papa implored him to enjoy his last few weeks of freedom before he became a married man. To his credit Carson accepted the family's gentle teasing with good humor until Mary spoke.

"So nothing's happened to delay the happy event?" Mary asked, smiling at Carson whose face had seemed to turn to stone.

"Mary! What an odd thing to say?" Granny interrupted before Carson could speak.

Mary only shrugged and took a sip of water. Edith smirked at the sharp look Granny sent her sister. Apparently Mary had almost ruined whatever scheme they were up to. Edith couldn't be sorry. She hoped whatever it was failed if for no other reason than that Mary was involved.


	30. Chapter 29

**A/N Thank you for your reviews!**

 **A Who's Who in Violet Storm  
Mrs. Hughes is Mr. Carson  
Mr. Carson is Mrs. Patmore  
Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter  
Ms. Baxter is Mr. Barrow  
Mr. Barrow is Mrs. Hughes **

Mr. Barrow would not stop looking at him all through dinner service. Molesley had thought that just keeping his distance from Mr. Barrow would curb whatever kind of absurd crush the under butler seemed to have on him. But Mr. Barrow had spent most of his time looking forlornly in his direction. Molesley didn't wish the man any ill will, but it looked like he was going to have to have a talk with the under butler.

Molesley saw his chance to catch Mr. Barrow on his own when he and the under butler were both sent to the servery for the change in course. Molesley braced himself for the awkward conversation was was sure to follow. "Mr. Barrow, if I might have a word?"

Mr. Barrow looked at him apprehensively but nodded for him to continue.

"Mr. Barrow, I know that you're… not like other men." _Good Lord, but this was difficult._ "And i'm not saying anything against that but I think you should look elsewhere for.." Molesley gestured helplessly as Mr. Barrow's eyes widened. Realizing he wasn't making much sense he blurted out in a rush of air, "I find it somewhat awkward for you to have a crush on me!"

Mr. Barrow's face crumpled before he burst into tears. Molesley stood in shock. He couldn't remember Mr. Barrow ever crying. He didn't know what to do.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Molesley," Mr. Barrow hiccupped covering his face with his hands, "but I can't do this anymore."

"Can't do what?" Molesley asked baffled.

"Can't keep the secret anymore." Molesley was even more confused. "Something terrible happened last night and now we're not in our right bodies. We've been hiding it all day, but I can't do it anymore!"

"What? What do you mean?"

"I'm not Mr. Barrow!" Mr. Barrow exclaimed.

Molesley blinked. Had the man gone mad? "You're not?"

"No! I'm Ms. Baxter. I'm Phyllis, Joseph!"

Molesley stared at the man slack jawed.

"Somehow for some reason some of us switched bodies and I'm Phyllis _not_ Mr. Barrow. _Please,_ believe me, Joseph!"

At that moment Mr. Carson popped his head around the divide. "What's taking so long?"

"We're coming, Mr. Carson," Barrow sniffed, earning a concerned look from Mr. Carson who walked fully into the servery.

"Is everything alright?" he asked looking from Mr. Barrow to Mr. Molesley.

Mr. Barrow was looking at Molesley exactly how Phyllis looked at him. Could the story of the switched bodies be true? Could Phyllis really be trapped inside Mr. Barrow's body? It would certainly explain Mr. Barrow's odd behavior all day. But what if it was some trick?

"Mr. Molesley?"

Jolted from his thoughts he nodded at the butler, "Everything's fine, Mr. Carson. We were just discussing who will carry the sauce."

Mr. Carson left then and Molesley turned back to Mr. Barrow who was still looking at him imploringly.

"I believe you," he said. "I don't know why, but I believe you."

Relief washed over Barrow's-Phyllis's?-face. "Oh thank God."

"I want a full explanation after dinner." Phyllis nodded. "Good."

He turned to go back out into the dining room when a horrid thought came to him. He looked warily back at Phyllis.

'If you're in Mr. Barrow's body then who's…?"

"Mrs. Patmore."

Molesley felt faint. "Oh God! I kissed Mrs. Patmore!"


	31. Chapter 30

**A/N Thank you all for sticking with this story!**

 **A Who's Who in Violet Storm  
Mrs. Hughes is Mr. Carson  
Mr. Carson is Mrs. Patmore  
Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter  
Ms. Baxter is Mr. Barrow  
Mr. Barrow is Mrs. Hughes**

Mama was up to some sort of mischief and Cora was afraid that she had dragged Mary and Cousin Isobel into it with her. Well, Mary probably hadn't been dragged into it so much as she had asked to be part of it. She and Mama had been smirking at each other all through dinner and now they were huddled together with Cousin Isobel at the opposite end of the settee. Cora kept an eye on the threesome as she listened to Edith.

"What do you think they're up to?" Edith asked when she noticed where Cora was standing.

"I don't know, but I'm sure it's nothing good." Cora narrowed her eyes at them before she called, "What are you three all huddled together for?"

Mary and Cousin Isobel looked shocked to be interrupted, but Mama saved them. "We were just discussing a surprise for Carson and Mrs. Hughes."

"Oh? What kind of surprise?"

"If we told it wouldn't be a surprise," Mary quipped.

Cora rolled her eyes and decided to let them have their secrets, but Edith wouldn't let it go. "Anything we can do to help?"

"Of course you can't help! You ruin everything you touch," Mary scoffed.

"Girls!" Cora scolded as Edith opened her mouth to retort.

"We'll let you know if we need any help, Edith," Cousin Isobel tried to ease the tension in the room between the two sisters. Cora sent her a smile in gratitude. She wasn't sure if she could handle both a scheming Violet and squabbling daughters. Luckily, Molesley came over with her glass of brandy. It was going to be a long evening.


	32. Chapter 31

**A/N Since fanfiction has finally decided to work, I thought I'd post this before it stopped cooperating again. Thank you for your reviews!**

 **A Who's Who in Violet Storm  
Mrs. Hughes is Mr. Carson  
Mr. Carson is Mrs. Patmore  
Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter  
Ms. Baxter is Mr. Barrow  
Mr. Barrow is Mrs. Hughes**

Mrs. Patmore watched in dread as the last of the plates from upstairs dinner were carried down the stairs. Once everything was put away it meant there was half an hour until servant's dinner was served. And that meant that she had half an hour to avoid Mr. Molesley's romantic overtures until out in the courtyard. She still wasn't sure what she was going to say to the man. She didn't want to lie to him about being Ms. Baxter, but she couldn't very well tell him the truth.

She heard the back door open and close. She heaved a sigh as she stood from the table. It was probably best to get it over with as soon as she could. She made it to the backdoor unhindered much to her annoyance. Any other time she would have been stopped no less that five times, but not now when she wanted it most. Taking a deep breath she opened the door and stepped outside into the courtyard.

"Ms. Baxter, I'm glad you could join us."

Mrs. Patmore froze in the doorway. Mr. Molesley was sitting with Mr. Barrow at the table in the courtyard. No, that wasn't Mr. Barrow, it was Ms. Baxter. What was she doing out here?

"It's alright, Mrs. Patmore," Ms. Baxter smiled. "He knows about what's happened to us."

"You told him?" Mrs. Patmore shouted. "What were you thinking?"

Ms. Baxter jumped up from the table to shush her and pull her to the table with them. "He understands."

"Well," Molesley interrupted, "I'm beginning to. I know that Ms. Baxter is in Mr. Barrow's body and that you're actually Mrs. Patmore, but beyond that I'm not sure. But I do want to help in any way that I can."

"I had to tell him," Ms. Baxter pleaded. "I hated lying to him."

"Oh, well then," Mrs. Patmore said still not sure how she felt about letting Mr. Molesley in on the secret. He seemed to be handling it well. It was odd to see his soppy look directed at Mr. Barrow, but at least he wasn't going to try to kiss her again. "I'll just leave you two to it, shall I?"

Mrs. Patmore wasn't even sure if they had heard her. They looked smitten at each other as she turned to go back inside. She hoped for their sakes this whole mess was cleared up soon. If Mr. Molesley kept looking at Ms. Baxter in Barrow's body like that, they'd both end up in prison.

She decided she should probably tell Mrs. Hughes about Molesley. Mrs. Patmore didn't think that telling the man was a good idea and she had a feeling Mrs. Hughes would agree with her. She looked in the Housekeeper's sitting room before she remembered that Mrs. Hughes would be in the Butler's pantry since she looked like the butler now. She walked down the hall and hoped that Mrs. Hughes was by herself. She didn't need Mr. Carson fainting again when she told her about Ms. Baxter spilling the beans to Molesley. She knocked on the door and entered before there was an answer.

"Mrs. Hughes, I need to tell you something about Ms. Baxter and Mr. Molesley."

Mrs. Hughes was sat behind Mr. Carson's desk writing and thankfully alone. She barely looked up, "If it's about their courtyard meetings, I already know."

"What?" Mrs. Patmore asked momentarily side tracked. "You knew?"

Mrs. Hughes looked up fully now, "Of course. I've already had one lady's maid's secret meetings turn into a marriage. I've kept a close eye on Ms. Baxter and Mr. Molesley."

"Oh," Mrs. Patmore sank into the chair across from Mrs. Hughes. "Well, that's good to know, but that's not what I came to tell you. Ms. Baxter has told Mr. Molesley about our body swap."

Mr. Carson's face was made for looking astounded and Mrs. Hughes used that to her full advantage. She sat slack-jawed staring in disbelief at Mrs. Patmore. "She never!"

"She did. I was just out in the courtyard with the both of them. He seemed to be alright with the whole thing."

"Good Heavens! I thought we agreed _not_ to tell anyone." She looked at Mrs. Patmore quizzically, "You don't think he'll do anything rash, do you?"

Mrs. Patmore remembered his soppy look and willingness to help and shook her head. "I think he just wants to help really. Maybe he can?"

Mrs Hughes shrugged and they fell into silence for a moment until, "I haven't a clue what Mr. Carson and I will do if we don't get back to ourselves. The wedding is only next month."

"We'll be back to normal by then, just wait and see," Mrs. Patmore soothed. She hated seeing her friend so downcast. She had waited years for Mr. Carson and now that he was in her grasp it seemed like it was to be taken away from her. Mrs. Patmore smiled wickedly as she got an idea.

"You know what I would do if I were you," she waggled her eyebrows.

"What?"

"Take a peek," Mrs. Patmore whispered gleefully with a pointed look below Mrs. Hughes belt. She giggled when Mrs. Hughes turned scarlet.

"Oh Lord! I hadn't thought of that! I didn't _want_ to think of that!"

"It's not like you aren't going to see it in a few weeks anyway."

"Mrs. Patmore!"

"You can tell me if it's true about men with big noses."

"Enough!"

Mrs. Patmore smirked at her friend's scrunched up face. Well, at least now she wasn't worried about her wedding. "Dinner should start in ten minutes which should give you enough time for a-"

"Out! Get out!" Mrs. Hughes shouted pulling her up from her chair and shoving her into the hallway. Mr. Carson popped his head around from the kitchen as the door was slammed in her face.

"What was that all about?" he asked worriedly.

"Never you mind," Mrs. Patmore giggled as she walked into the servant's hall to wait for dinner.


	33. Chapter 32

**A Who's Who in Violet Storm  
Mrs. Hughes is Mr. Carson  
Mr. Carson is Mrs. Patmore  
Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter  
Ms. Baxter is Mr. Barrow  
Mr. Barrow is Mrs. Hughes**

Bates had done as His Lordship had asked and kept an eye on Barrow. All day he had watched the under-butler and not once had Barrow said an unkind word to anyone. Barrow had even apologized when Mr. Molesley had barreled into him in the hallway. He was quieter and kept more to himself than usual. To anyone else, Barrow would seem a changed man, but Bates didn't believe it for a second.

But Barrow, he had noticed, wasn't the only person at Downton acting out of character. Mrs. Hughes, for one, was oddly surly and her accent seemed to fluctuate between absurdly Scottish and formally English. It was as if she couldn't remember which accent she was supposed to be using.

And then there was Mrs. Patmore. She had done nothing all day but sit in the kitchens and grumble like an old man. If she wasn't in the kitchens she could be found in the company of Ms. Baxter or Mr. Carson. Mrs. Patmore and Mr. Carson spoke often enough, usually in the company of Mrs. Hughes, but Bates had no idea how close Ms. Baxter and the Cook were. Especially if the amount of time they had spent together today was any indication.

Ms. Baxter, the normally quiet and reserved Lady's maid, had turned almost brash overnight. She was louder, coarser, and less refined than Bates had ever seen her. Her work wasn't slacking, but it seemed to be less polished. Bates had noticed that the sewing machine that usually occupied the servant's hall between meals had not made an appearance all day.

But perhaps most baffling of all was Mr. Carson. He seemed happier almost. He had smiled more today than Bates could recall he had the entire time he had known the Butler. He was looser as well; his posture less rigid. When he walked, there was a distinct sway that Bates did not want to contemplate.

Everyone else seemed normal. It was only those five that confused Bates. He didn't know what was going on and he didn't know where to start to find out either. he would report it all to his Lordship tonight. But for now he would watch them all for more information. Maybe servant's dinner with all of them together would shed some light onto the whole business. He could only hope so as he took his seat across from his wife and awaited for Mr. Carson to come start dinner.


	34. Chapter 33

**A/N I'm so sorry it's been over a week since I last posted. All I can say is that all the Downton spoilers that have been surfacing have killed my ability to write anything. I promise I'm going to finish this story come hell or high water. This chapter's a bit longer to make up for the long wait. I hope you like it. :)**

 **A Who's Who in Violet Storm  
Mrs. Hughes is Mr. Carson  
Mr. Carson is Mrs. Patmore  
Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter  
Ms. Baxter is Mr. Barrow  
Mr. Barrow is Mrs. Hughes**

Anna smiled at her husband as she sat across from him in the servant's hall. His smile seemed preoccupied and his gaze didn't linger on her as it normally would. He kept glancing at the head of the table to where Mrs. Patmore sat to the left of Mr. Carson. Anna didn't know what John found so interesting about the Cook. She didn't usually eat in the servant's hall, but it wasn't odd enough of an occurrence to warrant John's scrutiny. She would have to ask him about it later.

"Daisy!" she smiled at the assistant cook overlooking the kitchens maid serve dinner. "I hear you did well today."

Daisy beamed and blushingly gushed, "It weren't as hard as I thought it would be. Mrs. Patmore taught me everything I needed to know. If I had a problem, I just thought what Mrs. Patmore would do and that's what I did. She's the best teacher."

"That's nice, innit Mrs. Patmore?" Ms. Baxter said nudging the cook in the side. Mrs. Patmore smiled faintly at Daisy as those around the table offered their congratulations to both the cook and her assistant. She seemed almost embarrassed while Daisy was enjoying all of the attention, especially when Mr. Carson added his own praise for the assistant cook.

Mr. Carson called for dinner to start then and the table grew quieter as they all began to eat. Anna spent most of dinner speaking to Andy about his earlier adventures in dog grooming. The poor lad was still mightily embarrassed about the whole ordeal. It had taken him most of the afternoon to make Lord Grantham's puppy presentable again. She had escaped twice more after her first bid for freedom, but not quite as spectacularly as before. Andy had had to clean up quickly to make it in time to help serve dinner. His account of the recalcitrant pup had nearly the whole table in tears, but not, Anna noticed, her husband. He seemed only to have eyes for Mrs. Patmore. She made to ask him about it, but Mr. Carson stood up from the table clearing his throat.

"Tomorrow is a big day and we'll have lots of work to do," he declared. Anna thought they always had lots of work to do. "I want you all to finish your nightly duties and get to bed as soon as possible."

He looked at the servants around the table to make sure they were listening. When he was assured that they had understood him, he nodded once and dismissed them all to their work.

Anna stood with the rest of the servants after Mr. Carson's speech. She waited in the hallway for John. Once at her side, she linked her arm through his as they walked upstairs to the dressing rooms. Smiling teasingly at him, she squeezed his arm.

"Should I be jealous of Mrs. Patmore? She had your attention most of dinner."

"No," he huffed amusedly. "You're the only girl for me. But didn't you think she was acting strange?"

"Maybe a little," Anna conceded, "but she's just not used to a lot of attention."

He lifted his eyebrows at her skeptically as he opened to door at the top of the stairs and motioned for her to enter first. The resumed their walk arm-in-arm down the hallway to the Family bedrooms.

"But she's not the only one acting strange. Haven't you noticed Mrs. Hughes accent?"

Anna looked uncomfortable at this. "Well, yes, but I just put it down to pre-wedding nerves. Especially since Mr. Carson is behaving just as oddly. They are so cute together, don't you think?" She smiled dreamily, "I'm so happy for them."

"Yes, but Mr. Carson, Mrs. Hughes, and Mrs. Patmore aren't the only ones with odd behavior," John continued. "There's Ms. Baxter and Mr. Barrow as well. There's something going on with all of them."

Anna rolled her eyes, "Not this again. I've told you to ignore Mr. Barrow. He's not worth the time of day."

"Yes, but—"

"Anna, I was just about to ring for you."

Anna and John turned to see Lady Mary, Lady Violet, and Mrs. Crawley walking towards them.

"No need, milady," Anna smiled. "How can I help?"

"I was just going to retire early," Mary sighed glancing at the Dowager and Mrs. Crawley. "It's been rather a long day."

Anna only smiled and held the door open for Lady Mary to enter her bedroom.

"I'll see you in the servant's hall when we're finished," John whispered to her as she shut the door.


	35. Chapter 34

**A/N Here's a really long chapter for you. There is one more chapter after this one. I've written it and as soon as it's edited I'll post it. Thanks for all the reviews!**

 **A Who's Who in Violet Storm  
Mrs. Hughes is Mr. Carson  
Mr. Carson is Mrs. Patmore  
Mrs. Patmore is Ms. Baxter  
Ms. Baxter is Mr. Barrow  
Mr. Barrow is Mrs. Hughes**

Anna made it downstairs in time to see Mrs. Hughes ushering the last few straggling servants up to bed. She stopped to listen to the Housekeeper. John had said that her accent had been off all day and now Anna could hear it too. Mrs. Hughes voice sounded strained like it was put on. Now that she was looking, Anna thought that even Mrs. Hughes's movements seemed jerkier.

"Are you ready to go?"

Anna almost screamed at the voice by her ear she was so lost in her thoughts. Turning she exclaimed, "Mr. Bates! You scared me nearly to death!"

He chuckled and held her coat for her. "I'm sorry. That wasn't my intention. Are you ready to go?"

"Just let me say goodnight to Mrs. Hughes."

Anna stopped Mrs. Hughes as she was leaving the servant's hall. "I just wanted to say good night, Mrs. Hughes."

The Housekeeper looked startled to be addressed. "Alright."

Anna narrowed her eyes at her. "Well, I'll see you in the morning then?"

"I'm sure you will."

Mrs. Hughes left her standing in the doorway then, making her way toward Mr. Carson's pantry. Anna stared after her in confusion. John was right. There was definitely something off with Mrs. Hughes. She was hardly ever this short with her.

"Is everything alright?" John looked at her in concern. He followed her as she walked toward the back door. She was silent for a time as they walked to their was content to walk along in silence with his wife on his arm.

"I think you might be right about Mrs. Hughes," Anna said suddenly. John looked askance at her. "She hasn't been acting herself today. What was your theory about it?"

John sighed, "Are you sure you want to hear it again?"

At Anna's nod, he hummed to himself, trying to find the words to explain his suspicions. "Well, Mrs. Hughes isn't the only one that's been acting oddly. There's her, Mr. Carson, Mrs. Patmore, Ms. Baxter and Mr. Barrow. Now I'm not be prejudiced toward Mr. Barrow for once," he added at Anna skeptical look. "He's been nicer today than he has in a long time. I'm not sure exactly why, but it's almost as if the five of them have switched personalities."

"But how is that even possible?"

John shook his head in wonder, "I don't know, but there doesn't seem to be anything other explanation for it."

* * *

"That's them all sent up," Mr. Barrow said, walking into the Butler's pantry where Mrs. Hughes, Mr. Carson, Mrs. Patmore, and Ms. Baxter were waiting for him. "Mr. and Mrs. Bates are gone to their cottage. So we're all alone down here now."

"Good," Mrs. Hughes rumbled from behind Mr. Carson's desk. She looked around at the faces of her colleagues. None of them looked very hopeful. Mr. Carson as Mrs. Patmore looked quite forlorn. She couldn't blame him. They had spoken at length after dinner of what they were going to do for their wedding if they became stuck like this. They had decided that if they couldn't get married as Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes that they wouldn't get married at all. Mrs. Hughes was devastated by this decision, but she couldn't see a way around it.

"I don't suppose anyone's had any ideas about how we can get back into our own bodies?" Barrow asked taking a seat near the closed door. "No offense, but I don't fancy wearing a corset for the rest of my life. I don't know how you lot do it."

"There's no need for vulgarity, Mr. Barrow," Mr. Carson reprimanded the under butler half-heartedly.

Mrs. Patmore snickered, "Do you like your corset, Charlie?"

Mr. Carson only sighed and looked down at his feet. Mrs. Hughes thought he looked like he might cry.

"Enough, Mrs. Patmore," Mrs. Hughes chided, then looked around the room hopefully." _Has_ anyone thought of anything?"

A chorus of "no" was her only reply. She pinched the bridge of her nose. She hadn't thought of anything either. She had been too preoccupied with trying to act like Mr. Carson, and she suspected everyone else had had the same problem.

"Maybe it had something to do with that big storm last night," Ms. Baxter supplied.

Mrs. Hughes thought it a good place to start, but Mr. Barrow snidely commented, "What are we to do then? Hope for another thunderstorm?"

"It was just a thought, Mr. Barrow," Ms. Baxter quietly replied.

"I was an unusually violent storm." Mr. Carson said thoughtfully. "What if it _did_ have something to do with what happened to us?"

They all looked at each other in dismay. If this was a natural phenomenon, then would there even be a way back? If the thunderstorm was responsible for their plight, would another storm reverse it? It seemed unlikely. No one wanted to say aloud the fear that they really might be stuck like this forever.

"Surely it's not that," Mrs. Patmore pleaded.

"But what other explanation is there?" Mrs. Hughes sighed.

* * *

"I can't believe you've done this!" Isobel hissed as she crept behind Violet down to the kitchens. "This is absolutely barbaric!"

"Will you be quiet? They'll hear us," Violet whispered back at her.

Isobel was beyond appalled by what Violet had told her and Mary before she dragged them both down here. Mary hadn't seemed quite as shocked as Isobel felt, but then she would have probably done the same as her grandmother.

Violet had found an old book in Downton's library a few weeks ago. She had thought nothing of it except that it was so old the letters had faded from the binding. She had meant to set it aside for the librarian to have it restored when she had felt an odd urge to take it home with her. She had, and had kept it hidden so that neither Denker nor Spratt would find it. The odd little book had been full of what she could only assume were spells. One spell in particular had caught her attention. One which would let you see the world from another's perspective. Of course she wasn't going to try it on herself first, so she had decided that Carson and Mrs. Hughes were to be her test subjects. Mrs. Hughes had successfully transferred to Mr. Carson, but something had gone wrong and three others were pulled into the spell as well. She had enlisted Isobel and Mary to help her set them all back to rights.

"Why can you never leave things alone?" Isobel continued to complain as they sneaked past the butler's pantry where the affected servants were gathered. Violet ignored her and walked purposefully into the kitchen. She sat at Mrs. Patmore's desk and pulled a small book from her dressing gown.

"This is the spell I used," she pointed out the page to her companions. "It seems rather straight forward to send them back."

Isobel rolled her eyes and looked more closely at the book. For once Violet was right. It didn't seem that the reversal spell was as complicated at the one that had messed everything up in the first place. It looked quite simple really. Isobel shook her head at the ridiculousness of taking a spell book seriously. This was insane.

"This is completely ridiculous, you do know that?"

"It doesn't matter if it's ridiculous," Mary said. "We just need to get Carson back to normal."

Isobel looked askance at her. "Don't you care about the others?"

"Enough!" Violet hissed. "We don't have much time. We have to do this before midnight or it will be significantly harder to reverse."

Isobel and Mary moved to stand around the table on either side of Violet who turned around in her chair and offered them both her hands. "We hold hands and then we chant the spell."

Isobel took a deep breath as they grasped hands and began to chant. None of them noticed the figure listening at the top of the stairs.


	36. Chapter 35

For the second night in a row, Mrs. Hughes was woken by a violent clap of thunder. She looked around momentarily confused until she realized where she was. She was seated in a chair in Mr. Carson's pantry. Why was she in Mr. Carson's pantry? She hadn't fallen asleep here, had she?

A low groan from behind Mr. Carson's desk drew her attention to the rest of the room. In various positions, Mr. Barrow, Mrs. Patmore, and Ms. Baxter were lying about almost lifeless on the floor. Mrs. Hughes stared hard at them trying to think of a reason why they would all be in the butler's pantry unconscious. She couldn't think of a reasonable explanation for—

She gasped as realization hit her; the switched bodies, trying to think of a way back and failing, realizing they were probably going to be stuck like this forever. She dropped her head into her hands holding back a sob. Crying now was not going to help the situation.

"Please tell me I didn't faint again," rumbled a deep voice from behind Mr. Carson's desk.

Mrs. Hughes stopped breathing. She would know that voice anywhere. She peered from behind her hands and noticed for the first time since waking that she wasn't wearing men's trousers like she had for most of the day. She was wearing a dress; her dress. Now she remembered that the last thing she recalled before waking was sitting behind the butler's desk as Mr. Carson, but now she was sitting near the door. She was sitting near the door and she was in her own body!

She leapt from her seat and nearly bounded around the desk to where Mr. Carson— _Oh, please let it be Mr. Carson!—_ was lying on the floor. She knelt next to him and asked hopefully, "Mr. Carson?"

He nodded looking up at her groggily. "Please tell me that you are Mrs. Hughes and not Mr. Barrow."

Tears flowing freely, Mrs. Hughes smiled at him. "Yes, I'm Mrs. Hughes! We're back! Thank goodness! We're back!"

She laughed uncontrollably until Mr. Carson pulled her down to him and kissed her passionately.

"Oh Lord! Get a room, you two!"

They broke apart to see Mrs. Patmore standing over them grinning like the cat that got the cream. Mr. Barrow and Ms. Baxter were just behind her. Mr. Carson stood quickly and then helped Mrs. Hughes to her feet.

"I take it we're all back to normal then?" Mrs. Hughes asked.

"As normal as we can get after witnessing that," Mr. Barrow exclaimed in disgust. Mr. Carson began to growl at the under butler but Mrs. Patmore beat him to it with a swift kick to Mr. Barrow's knees.

"Yes," she grinned. "All back to normal. I don't know how or why, but I am ever so glad we are!"

They all looked at each other in happy relief until a scream from the hallway sent them scurrying to see what had happened.

* * *

Isobel woke with an awful headache. It took her moment to remember where she was-the Abbey kitchens-and why she was laying on the floor-Violet's awful spell book. Groaning she turned her head to see Mary unconscious beside her. Throwing her head to the other side, she gasped in horror. She sat up quickly, looking down at herself and then at the unconscious person beside her.

"Oh bugger all!" She cried realizing the body she was looking down upon was her own. She was Violet! Oh, but this was just wizard. Violet was going to pay for this.

"Granny?" a voice called behind her. Mary was blinking up at her in confusion. Well, she assumed it was Mary. Isobel didn't think that Violet would call herself Granny.

"Mary? Are you alright?"

Confusion flashed across the young woman's face, "Granny? It's me, Edith?"

"Oh bugger all!" Isobel repeated. She turned back to where her body lay unconscious and shook whoever it was awake. "Violet, I am going to kill you if we are stuck like this. I swear to God."

"Oh stop being so melodramatic! It's not that bad. I haven't felt this young in years!"

She watched Violet in her own body giggle and before she knew it she was hitting the giggling woman as hard as she could. "Violet- _smack_ -this- _smack_ \- is not- _smack-_ funny!"

Violet stopped laughing and sat up to take a look around her. "Well, at least it's just the two of us that's switched. We can fix it easily enough."

Isobel rolled her eyes. "We are _not_ the only ones that have switched. Mary is now Edith."

Violet sighed in frustration, "Oh for goodness sake, Edith!"

She was stopped from further reprimanding the girl when a scream came from the stairs.

"Goddammit, Edith! You always ruin everything!"

 **A/N That's the end! I hope you enjoyed this slightly manic story. I appreciate each and every review I've received for it. Thank you all so much for the support for this mad little fic both here and on tumblr.**


End file.
